John Penton obit

John Penton, 1925–2025

 

He was not on the list.

John Penton, a legendary enduro rider and pioneer of American off-road motorcycle racing, passed away Sunday morning at the age of 100. He had celebrated his centenary birthday in late August.

“John Penton arrived at the finish line this morning after a long and amazing life,” his son Jack stated. “I am happy he passed peacefully after enjoying his 100th birthday with so many that loved him and appreciated his contributions to our lives.”

Alongside his brothers, Penton grew up riding motorcycles on the family farm. After serving in World War II and his discharge from the Navy, he got into racing competitively.

“I started reading about this off-road stuff and got hooked,” Penton recalled in 2000.

While he initially began his career on a used Harley-Davidson Knucklehead, he quickly found European models—smaller and nimbler than their American counterparts—to be the superior machine for enduros. At his Jack Pine 500-Mile Enduro in 1948, he and the field were left in the dust by Aub Le Bard and his Birmingham Small Arms bike.

A lightbulb in Penton’s head went off, and he went on to compete using bikes built on the opposite side of the Atlantic. He returned to the Jack Pine in 1949 with his own BSA and finished second, then won the 1958 edition repping NSU Motorenwerke and in 1966 for Husqvarna.

Also in 1958, he claimed the Ohio state enduro title and various enduro races around the United States. The following year, he took a BMW R69S from New York City to Los Angeles in a near-nonstop, AMA record 52 hours, 11 minutes, and 1 second. He was named the AMA’s Most Popular Rider in 1960, won titles in both the U.S. and Canada, and represented his country at the International Six Day Trial.

He and his brother ran a motorcycle dealership in Amherst, Ohio, that specialized in bikes from across the pond. After the 1967 ISDT, he linked up with KTM to help bring the relatively small Austrian manufacturer stateside, leading to the birth of Penton Motorcycles.

The first Penton bike was sold in 1968 to Al Born for $650, who won the 1969 Berkshire Two-Day Trial. Over ten years of production, Penton 175cc enduro bikes won 44 gold, 17 silver, and 18 bronze medals at the ISDT. Penton sold the line to KTM in 1977.

His impact also extended to motorcycle gear as the head of Hi-Point Racing Products, which made equipment like boots, gloves, and chest protectors. The Hi-Point boots were exceptionally popular and would later be produced by Alpinestars.

Penton was enshrined in the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998. His sons Jeff, Jack, and Tom also became bike racers, with Jack being an HOF inductee himself as part of the Class of 2009.

John Penton: August 19, 1925 – September 7, 2025